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Friday, August 14, 2009

A Song & A Prayer -- And I'm There

What is it about music that takes us back? The sounds of familiar strains can equal instant transport back to another time and place.

As I write this, Neil Diamond is on TV performing in a New York concert. I didn't plan on watching ... the phone rang and as I came back into the room I could hear it ...

I am I said ...[flashback 32 years] I am sitting on the floor of our rec room with my sisters, my mom perched, feet tucked under her, in her red comfy chair that had arms wide enough to accommodate a kid on each side. Love at the Greek is on TV and my mom is singing along with every song. OK -- we were all singing along.

Me and you are subject to the blues now and then, but when you take the blues and make a song, you sing them out again ...[flashback 33 years] Bouncing up and down to the music in the seat next to my first boyfriend, in his beat-up 19 fifty-something GMC pickup as Song Sung Blue blasts on the radio. I think I was singing as I bounced.

Hands, touching hands, reaching out, touching me, touching you ...[flashback 20 years] My mom, sister and I are at Maple Leaf Gardens at a Neil Diamond concert - we did it for our mother. My mom is on her feet, arm outstretched, flicking her Bic to her hearts content, swaying and singing to the music. It was her first big concert -- and just maybe we danced too -- just a little.

Sweet Caroline ...[flashback just a few years ago] My two amigas and I are at the Air Canada Centre with the thousands of other aging fans - many past their prime - but dressed as if they had a personal date with the Diamond. We are seeing him - one last time. Maybe we shouldn't have. His act had gone very Las Vegas and his flirting with the middle aged, Lady Clairol groupies was more than a little disconcerting ... Yikes.

Sometimes you just can't go back - but you can let the music take you there.

3 comments:

Isn't it interesting how we can time travel in this way? I've found that a smell can do the same thing! A baker's shop with doughnuts cooking, and I'm back in the square at Gibralta, where we used to go for morning coffee...

I had to catch up on your blogs today and when I read this particular one, a big warm hug surrounded my heart. I had created a shortcut on my desktop of the exact You Tube video only a week ago and have been playing it off and off. It sends me back to those days - how mom would lift her chin up when she sang. What a warm fuzzy feeling... to know that we share the same memory of that moment. oxDaughter #2